Business and legal aspects of advancing your patent disclosure: Part 3 in a series on protecting your inventions with limited resources

This series presents some procedural guidance for inventors and entrepreneurs who would otherwise either not pursue protection for their inventions or would file a patent application pro se without the input of a qualified patent practitioner. Having a professional patent practitioner draft and file a patent application can be beyond the budget of many inventors. The topics discussed in the series focus exclusively on patents and do not cover other forms of intellectual property (IP) such as trademarks and copyrights. This series provides tips for such inventors to minimize the risk of devaluing an invention, jeopardizing chances of allowance of a patent during prosecution, having a patent application being deemed unpatentable or lacking enablement, or having a patent being deemed unenforceable against infringement. The material presented here is meant to be informational and in no way serves as legal advice. Individuals who are interested in discussing their innovations in detail should consult a qualified patent practitioner.